Membership Application Information

Application Process

To apply, please send your completed application form and résumé to the link here: Membership Application Form. If you have any questions about applications please email us at litigation@calawyers.org

About the Committee

Thank you for your interest in applying to serve as a member of the Committee on Appellate Courts. We are a collegial, active committee that seeks to:

• Provide members of the State Bar of California with quality continuing education on appellate practice, including programs that meet the standards for the State Bar’s appellate specialization requirements;
• Comment on proposed changes to court rules in state and federal courts that affect appellate practice in California; and
• When possible, initiate or support programs for providing pro bono appellate assistance, mentoring inexperienced appellate attorneys, helping pro se litigants on appeal, and making legal education programming affordable for all attorneys, and initiating other special projects.

We are committed to including attorneys from a broad range of subject areas and practice types, including civil and criminal appellate practitioners, large firm attorneys and solo practitioners, government, court, and non-profit attorneys, and academics. In selecting new members, the Committee also seeks diversity in terms of practice area, geographic location, ethnicity, and gender/gender identity.

We typically meet by phone once per month and in person once per year. Members serve a three-year term.

The Committee expects each member to help with at least one of the following projects per year:

• organize or help organize an MCLE program (either a webinar or a live panel);
• write an article for California Litigation journal;
• prepare a written MCLE test;
• draft and finalize the committee’s comments on a proposed rule change;
• assist in the organization of the Appellate Summit;
• assist the executive committee as requested.

In addition, each member is expected to participate in all Committee meetings and the selection of new members. Applicants must be a current member of the Litigation, Criminal, or Family Law Section, or must join one of these sections once selected for membership on the Committee. If joining one of these sections would present a problem for you, please explain why in your cover letter and exceptions will be considered.